Creating a document for distribution over a network such as the Internet may be a frustrating endeavor for an author. In addition to composing the content of the document, an author must design the format for the document. The format defines the appearance and the placement of the content of the document and should be designed to enhance the content and usability of the document. Typically, the format defines the size of the margins, the size and font of the characters and the colors of the document. If the document is intended for a single medium such as print, then the format may be optimized for that particular medium. If the format is optimized for print, then the format takes into account physical constraints such as the size of the paper and output device capabilities such as the colors and fonts supported by the printer. However, with the advent of large networks such as the Internet, a document may be intended for a variety of media and a variety of output devices. For example, a document distributed over the Internet may be displayed on a variety of display devices and may be printed on a variety of printers. If a document is intended for a variety of media or output devices, then a single static format cannot be optimum for all the intended uses. For example, a format optimized for a printed document may be different than a format optimized for a computer-displayed document. In addition, a format optimized for a large high resolution display may be different than a format optimized for small personal digital assistant.
An author of a document distributed over a network may not know what type of device a user will employ to output the document. To accommodate the largest number of output devices, an author may design a format which utilizes only the most basic output device capabilities. Although the resulting format may work with a large number of devices, the format is a compromise and may not be optimum for any of the output devices.
One solution to formatting documents for distribution over a network, is to create a document using a generalized markup language such as Hypertext Markup Language ("HTML"). HTML allows an author to define the structure of a document using tags. Although HTML does not provide an author with direct control over the format of a document, HTML allows the author to advise or suggest ways the document should be formatted through the use of HTML tags. The format of the document is ultimately controlled by user-installed software commonly referred to as a browser. One example of a browser is the "INTERNET EXPLORER" browser distributed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. A browser recognizes the HTML tags and formats the document using the HTML tags and the browser parameters.
An advantage of HTML is that it is platform independent, so the content of an HTML document may be displayed on a number of different display devices using a number of different browsers. However, the structure of an HTML document is static. The author creates HTML tags which advise ways the document should be formatted. The same tags are used regardless of the capabilities of the output device or the browser. Because the tags do not take into account the physical size of the display or the browser window or the capabilities of the display device, the format is not optimized for a particular display device. Although HTML allows a document to be displayed on a large number of display devices, HTML does not provide an optimum format for a particular display device.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for dynamically formatting a document based upon the capabilities and constraints of a particular output device.